How to enjoy the Super Bowl

Posted Monday, January 27, 2020, at 12:27 PM

Less than a week away until one of the biggest football games of the year, maybe even the biggest depending on how you feel about college or high school, and for once the two best teams are maybe even in the big game. February 2 is the day and the time is 5:30 p.m. Although it’s never right at that exact time given how long the National Anthem can take. The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will wage battle on the gridiron in what is going to be a styles clash. The best offense against the best defense in the league, or close enough to, and it’s that ageless question of can a great defense beat a great offense. However, there are ways to enjoy the Super Bowl properly. 1. Turn off social media, unless you have a distinct need to be on it. Usually, there are numerous hot takes and bad reactions during a football game and social media is the place to see them. However, most of these takes are not well thought out and usually knee jerk without giving anything time to breathe. You’ll see the homer fan tweeting that the referees are for the other team, and all of these calls are the absolute worst in football history. We’ve all seen it here or there, or even in the stands. If one is going to be on social media, follow the good sports journalists out there. Not guys like Skip Bayless. He’s one of the kings of the bad hot take and should be avoided. Same with Colin Cowherd. 2. Seating. The Super Bowl is a long engagement. From the game, the commercials and the soft halftime show with pop performances instead of adrenaline pumping heavy metal, your seat is vastly important. If you get stuck showing up late and get put on a folding chair, that’s on you for showing up late. Get there early, get the good spot on the couch and don’t give it up, even if it means marking your territory. 3. Clothing. You never know how hot or cold someone’s place is going to be to watch the game. It’s even hard to predict what a sports bar might have their temperature set at. Wear layers, preferably sports related. Not jerseys though. Stick with hoodies, t-shirts and the like. You spill someone’s bean dip on a jersey, that stain might not come out. Ever. 4. Food. This might be the most important part of the Super Bowl besides the game. A Super Bowl is not complete without great food, but it has to be the right kinds. We’ve all seen game day snacks advertised on TV in the days leading up to the game. Stick with finger foods like wings, chips & dip, pretzels, pizza, burgers and so on. If you need a fork or a spoon, you have gone down the wrong path. The only reason a spoon or a fork should be used on game day is to get more dip or place those cocktail wieners out of a slow cooker. 5. Betting. Wait, sorry, can’t cover this one. 6. The game itself. Everything leading up to the game has been discussed. As noted before, this is a game of offense against defense and there’s bound to be a lot of great play from both teams. The Chiefs will lean on superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes as they have all postseason, the 49ers defense, led by Richard Sherman and Joey Bosa, will have to shut down Mahomes and company. A couple of key matchups to keep an eye on are: the Chiefs receivers/tight ends against SF’s secondary. Sherman is the key to the 49ers back end but the Chiefs have a lot of speed at their skill positions. The might be able to torch them if Mahomes gets the time. Brings us to the other match up to watch. The Chiefs offensive line against the 49ers defensive line. Bosa and the rest of the 49ers pass rush might have the edge on the KC offensive line, but Mahomes can get rid of the ball quickly. Should be interesting. Also keep an eye on the 49ers run game against the Chiefs defense. For most of the year, KC was awful on defense but since week 12 or so, they’ve picked up on that side of the ball. San Francisco can run on most teams, and did so on Green Bay a couple of weeks ago. Controlling the clock will help SF if they want to get another Super Bowl title. So there you have it. That’s how someone is going to enjoy the Super Bowl on Sunday. Have fun and be safe if anyone is going out to a party or a sports bar to enjoy the biggest game of the year. I’m taking the Chiefs, 31-25.